AN ANGRY resident is appealing for action after his cat was "kicked about like a football" by drunken yobs on the Coppice.

Pensioner Harold Entwistle, of Lodge Street, Accrington, was so appalled at the injuries his cat received at the hands of underage drinkers he is calling on the police to act before "something more serious happens."

The injuries inflicted on his cat, known as Chloe, included:

- Severe bruising to its entire body.

- Its ribs ripped away from the breastbone, so they are effectively floating in the body.

- And Mr Entwistle is a week away from finding out whether or not it will need to be put down.

Mr Entwistle said: "There have been a number of problems on the Coppice over the last couple of weeks and this is the final straw. Something needs to be done.

"The police think they are doing well moving youths around the borough but they are not. They need to sort the problem out once and for all.

"Chloe is a very faithful cat and turns up like clockwork to be fed. The other morning I thought it was strange when she didn’t turned up but I decided to give her a bit more time. When I went out to the front of my house there were lots of empty strong lager cans scattered on my drive and alarm bells began to ring.

"The next day I decided to go looking for her. I found her curled up under a branch looking like she had been hit by a car."

He rushed Chloe to the vet who instantly recognised that she not been hit by a car but had been violently kicked and used as a football.

He said: "I cannot understand how anyone can do this.

"She probably thought the yobs wanted to play and went over to them. The vet knew immediately how her injuries were caused and it makes me sick. I blame the police, they don’t do enough to stamp out this problem.

This latest attack comes a week after the Observer revealed that drunk youths had started to gather around the Coppice following the demolition of the shelter as part of Lancashire County Council’s REMADE project.

Police Community Support Officer for the Coppice, Paul Crossland, said: "This attack is disgraceful and youths should be aware that behaviour like this will not be tolerated in any form.

"We will be stepping up high visibility patrols in the area to try and stamp out behaviour like this, but this area is not easy to police. The youths that gather here come from all parts Accrington.

"What we really need to do is set up more divisionary tactics to prevent this sort of behaviour."